Darlington Xfinity Race

Time to go Xfinity racing in Darlington!

Logan has been begging us to go to an Xfinity race and now is the time!

 Some of Logan’s favorite drivers race in Xfinity and since we tend to just go to the cup races, he has never been able to watch his favorite drivers race. When I told him that we were going to the Xfinity race in Darlington, the excitement was endless. He was so excited and right away mentioned that he needs to get his hat signed by Sam Mayer.

The upside to going to the Xfinity race rather than a cup race, it isn’t as crowded or busy. We walked around the fan zone and the merch haulers without endless amounts of people. It was so nice. We could really take everything in and look at everything without everyone trying to see the same things as you. 

As the days were getting closer to the race, I was on the lookout on social media, trying to figure out when the Jr. Motorsports drivers were going to be doing an autograph session. When I finally found out that they were doing an autograph session, there was such relief. Logan was going to be incredibly excited because this was one big reason why he wanted to go to the Xfinity race, to get Sam Mayers autograph on his hat.

It’s time!! Logan was face to face with Sam Mayer. He was so nervous, yet so excited.

Logan was one happy boy! He finally got Sam’s autograph! I truly believe this will be a moment that will forever be engrained in his memory. 

McKenna also decided to get her Dale Jr. hat signed by all the Jr. Motorsports drivers. She may not have really known who the drivers were, but she was excited to get some autographs.

After all the excitement of getting autographs, it was time to head to our seats. I was pretty bummed that we weren’t going to be able to watch the cup race, but got a bit of that excitement back when I noticed that we would be able to watch the cup cars practice and qualify. 

As with most qualifying sessions, the timing between each car is very close and there was no exception to this qualifying sessions at Darlington. Bubba Wallace had many cars to go after he made his qualifying laps, but he put up a great time. Once getting back on pit road, he stood outside his car just watching the other cars qualifying, letting a sigh of relief when those cars didn’t make better times than him. Bubba ended up getting pole. It was pretty cool watching it all unfold and seeing all the excitement between the driver and all his crew members.

Once cup qualifying was complete, the Xfinity cars started making their way to pit road. 

During this time, it was also time for us to get out of the stands and cool down. It was one heck of a hot day. I wasn’t expecting it to be that hot, but it was a hotness that is hard to explain. So, during the set up for the Xfinity race, we went to sit in the shade and get some ice cream and shaved ice in our bodies. 

Before long, it was time to head back into the stands for the start of the race. I was bummed that I wasn’t going to be able to watch my driver, Chase Elliott race on Sunday, but I got lucky in the fact that, Chase was going to be racing the Xfinity race #17 Go get ‘em Chase, along with any of the Jr. Motorsports drivers.

It was a great race, but unfortunately, Chase nor the Jr. Motorsports drivers won the race. Pretty bummed, but happy that we were treated with a great race.

It was a great day at Darlington Raceway. It could have been a bit cooler out, but it was still a very fun day! I see many more Xfinity races in our future!

First Day of School

Summer break is officially over and now it’s time to get back into the swing of school again.

It’s truly hard to believe that we now have 2 middle schoolers and a 4th grader. 

The kids weren’t too happy knowing that their summer break was over and with that brought out all the nerves of starting another school year. With that came a whole new amount of emotions with McKenna. She was starting 6th grade and having to start at a new school, middle school at that. The nerves really got a hold of her. The nerves were high all the way to school, at least for McKenna. Logan was pretty excited about school and McKaila, she was just like, another school year, let’s do this. 

The kids were not too ecstatic about school starting up already, but all 3 of them did have smiling faces walking about of school on their first day. Logan really loves his teachers. McKenna was back and forth with how she felt about having to transition for every class, but was very excited when she saw McKaila at lunch time. McKaila is very happy with all her classes and teachers and is looking forward to be in honors classes for the first time this year. 

The 2024-2025 school year is going to be a great year for our kids and we’re looking forward to seeing how much they accomplish this school year.

Amish

When I found out that Sarasota wasn’t far from Todd and Jodi’s place, I said, “ I must go, I need to find the Amish!” 

To Sarasota we go!!

But, unfortunately, the Amish went back to their homes up north for the summer months. Looks like we’ll need to make another trip down to Sarasota. We did however, ride around and found where they attend church and their stores. We ended our trip by going to Der Dutchman: Amish Kitchen Cooking for a late lunch. So much yummy food, but not enough room in our bellies to enjoy all that we wanted to. 

Now, for some photos that I wanted to share that are just randomness from the weekend. 

Time to head back to SC! It was a great 4th of July weekend and we look forward to going back! Thanks VanOrders for letting our family take over your home and for all the fun memories! Love you!

Dolphin Cruise

One thing that I’ve always wanted to do was go on a dolphin cruise. 

Guess what we are doing today?!?

Going on a dolphin cruise!! 

I’m so excited!! 

We’re heading to Anna Marie Island to get on a pontoon boat and do some dolphin watching and also see all the many beautiful birds that Florida has to over. 

I love seeing pelicans, so I was super excited that there was a pelican hanging out right where our boat was anchored. They are so cool to see, especially up so close!

When we got out into the water, the pelicans were everywhere you looked. Flying next to us, perched up on poles, so cool to see. It took about 10 minutes before we had our very first sighting of dolphins. 

When the boat captain first spotted them, we all got very excited and stood right up looking to spot them ourselves. Luckily, for us, the dolphins continued to come up to the surface. 

We were on the water for about 2 hours and had many different opportunities to see the dolphins. And honestly, it was just as exciting to hear all the information that the boat captains were giving us. They were telling us about certain areas around where we were and about all the sunken boats that we would see. It was all pretty interesting. 

We were bummed once we had to head back to shore, but wow, what an experience. And I’m so glad that we got to experience it all together! It was so fun and look forward to doing it again in the future and hopefully seeing more than just dolphins.